Draft-rigging for railway-cars.



J. F. OCONNOR.

DRAFT RIGGING FOR RAILWAY CARS.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 24, 19I3.

Patented May 11, 1915.

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WITNESSES THE NDR'RIS PETER; CO., F'HbTOLITHQ. WASHINGTON.

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JOHN F. OCONNOR, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNORJIO WILLIAM H. MINER, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

DRAFT-RIG GING FOR RAILWAY-CARS.

To all whom it may concern: I

Y Be it known that 1, JOHN F. OCoNNoR, a citizen of the United States, residing atChicage, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, :have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Draft-Rigging for Railway-Cars, of which the following is a full, clear, concise, and exact description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification.

My invention relates to improvements in draft rigging for railway cars.

The object of my invention is to provide a draft rigging that may be mounted in a comparatively short longitudinal space between the draft members of a railroad car, and one having provision for an easy initial movement in pulling action.

In the drawings forming a part of this specificationFigure 1 is a planview partly in horizontal section of a draft rigging embodying my invention; Fig. 2 is a vertical longitudinal section through the parts in front of the front follower on line 2-2 of Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is a cross section on line 33 of Fig. 1.

Referring to the drawings the numerals 4, 4 represent draft sills or parts of the car to which the draft rigging is applied; 5 represents the end sill; 6 the buffer block; 7 the drawbar carry iron; .8, S the rear stop members; 9 the draft gear comprising the shell 10 and compression resisting mechanism 11 within the shell. A draft yoke 12 is suitably secured to a draw bar 13. front follower 14 is mounted within the yoke between the draft gear and the draw bar. 1 The :foregoingparts are of well known construction, and occupy the usual longitu dinal space provided therefor in railway cars. V

In order to increase the shock absorbing capacity of the draft rigging and without the necessity of cutting through the draft sills or extending parts below the draft sills I provide the novel supplemental compression resisting member hereinafter described, and the means ofoperative1y associating the same with the parts hereinbefore mentioned. The numeral 1-5 represents the front stop members. A spring cage 25 is mounted above the draft. gear, and preferably rearwardly adjacent the end sill 5, the same being preferably a unitary structure secured Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May 11, 1915.

Application filed November 24, 1913. Serial No. 802,850.

face of the spring cage is convex, as indi cated at the numeral 21, the convexity extending rearwardly into the spring cage to permit the forward flexing of the springs at their ends. A bolt 22 is vertically disposed through the rear portion of the spring cage, and is adapted to hold the springs 19 within the spring cage. t either side the lower plate 23 of the spring cage is provided with a longitudinal rearwardly openingslot or way 24 to permit the longitudinal movement of one of the arms 26 therein. The arms 26 are preferably two in number, one adjacent either draft member, each of said arms engaging the springs 19 at the upper end, and being pivoted at the lower oted within a vertically extended rearwardly opening recess 29 with which each front stop member is provided, the pivotal point being at the lower end of said recess, and formed by a pin 27 fastened through the arm and the flanges 28, 28 forming said recess. Each of said arms 26 is rearwardly bowed to engage the front face 30 of the front follower 14 in normal position of the parts, each of said arms being adapted on forward movement of the follower ,to be forced forwardly within the recess 29 and until the front follower engagesthe shoulders 17 of the front stopmembers 15. On account of the arms or levers 26 being bowed on their'rear sides, the leverage exerted on thesprings 20. gradually varies as the front follower is moved forwardly, since the arm of the lever between pivot 27 and the point of engagement of the lever 26 with the follower 14 decreases during such movement. Hence the force required to move the lever 26 forwardly increasesgradually during the forward movement of the follower.

;The springs 19 are preferably of lesser capacity than the compression resisting parts of'the draft gear, and on forward movement of the draw bar the yoke moves the draft gear forwardly, this in turn moving the front follower forwardly, the said follower by means of the levers 26 forwardly flexing the ends of the springs 19 until the front follower engages the shoulders 17 of the front stop members, when the further movement of the draw bar is resisted by the operation of the draft gear 9. On rearward movement of the draw bar the draft gear acts as the shock absorbing member of the draft rigging, the springs 19 not acting as compression, resisting members in bufling movement. The springs 19 within the member 15 serve to afford an easy preliminary movement, and insure an easy start to the car to which the same is applied in connection with the draft gear.

I claim 1. In a draft rigging for railway cars, the combination with the draft gear, draft yoke, draw bar, stop members and followers, of a supplemental shock absorbing member mounted between the draft members and comprising springs, seats therefor and levers for compressing springs, said levers being pivoted to the front stop members and actuated by the front follower in its forward movement.

2. In a draft rigging for railway cars, the combination with the draw bar and draft members, of a shock absorbing member comprising a spring cage mounted above the draw bar, springs therein, and levers to compress the springs, said levers having actuating means operatively connected to the draw bar in its forward movement.

3. In a draft rigging for railway cars, the combination with sills, a draw-bar, stop members, yoke, main draft gear and a follower, of a supplemental shock absorbing device comprising a plurality of plate springs secured to and between the sills adjacent said follower, and means for flexing said springs upon movement of said follower toward the springs and prior to the operation of the main gear, said follower remaining stationary during the operation of the main gear.

4. In a draft rigging for railway cars, the combination with the sills, stop members, draw-bar, yoke and main draft gear, of a member secured to and extending from one sill to the other sill above the level of the top of the draw-bar, springs carried by said member, and means for operating the springs during the initial movement of the draw-bar in one direction and prior to the operation of the main gear.

5. In a draft rigging for railway cars, the combination with the draw bar, draft members, stop members, draft yoke, followers and draft gear, of an auxiliary shock absorbing member mounted upon the draft members, and comprising a spring cage, springs within the cage, arms pivotally connected to the draft members, and adapted to compress said spring, slots in the spring cageifor the longitudinal movement of the arms therein, the said arms being actuated by the front follower on forward movement thereof.

6. In a draft rigging for railway cars, the combination with the draw bar, draft members, stop members, draft yoke, followers and draft gear, of an auxiliary shock absorbing member mounted upon the draft members, and comprising a spring cage having a convex bearing face, springs adapted to flex against said bearing face, and arms to compress the springs, said arms being actuated by means operatively connected to the draw bar in its forward movement.

7. In a draft rigging for railway cars, the combination with the draw bar, draft members, stop members, draft yoke, followers and draft gear, of an auxiliary shock absorbing member mounted upon the draft member, and comprising a spring cage, springs within said cage, arms to actuate said springs, slots in the stop members to receive said arms, said arms being pivoted to the front stop members, and being actuated to compress said springs by the front follower in its forward movement.

8. In a draft rigging for railway cars, the combination with the draw bar, draft members, stop members, draft yoke, followers and draft gear, of an auxiliary shock absorbing member mounted upon the draft members, and comprising a spring cage, springs within said cage, arms pivoted to the front stop members to compress the springs, the front stop members being provided with slots into which said arms are moved by the front follower in its forward movement, the front follower upon compression of said springs engaging the front stops to permit the compression of the draft gear.

9. In a draft rigging for railway cars, the combination with the draw bar, draft members, stop members, draft yoke, followers and draft gear, of an auxiliary shock absorbing member mounted upon the draft members, and comprising a spring cage, springs in said cage, a bolt passing through the cage to retain the springs therein, and arms actuated by the front follower to compresssaid springs.

10. In a draft rigging for railway cars, the combination with the draw bar, draft members, stop members, draft yoke, followers and draft gear, of an auxiliary shock absorbing member mounted upon the draft members, and comprising a spring cage, springs comprising a plurality of flat plates in said cage, pivoted arms actuated by the front follower to compress said springs in forward movement of the draw bar.

11. In a draft rigging for railway cars, the combination with the draw bar, an end sill, draft members, stop members, draft yoke, followers and draft gear, of an auxiliary shock absorbing member mounted upon the draft members, and comprising a spring cage, forwardly abutting the end sill, springs within said cage, and pivoted arms actuated by the front follower in forward movement to compress said springs.

12. In a draft rigging for railwaycars, the combination with the draw bar, draft members, stop members, draft yoke, followers and draft gear, of an auxiliary shock absorbing member mounted upon the draft members, and comprising a spring cage, springs within said cage, arms pivoted to the front stop members at one end and engaging the springs at the other end, said arms being rearwardly bowed and engaging the front follower, the front follower actuating said arms in its forward movement to compress said springs.

13. In a draft rigging for railway cars, the combination with draft members and a draw bar, of a shock absorbing member mounted above the draw bar between the draft members comprising a spring cage and springs therein, arms pivotally connected to the draft members engaging the spring, said arms being operatively connected to the draw bar.

14. In a draft rigging for railway cars, the combination with draft members and a draw-bar, of a shock-absorbing member mounted between the draft members and comprising a spring cage and springs therein, means for engaging the spring, said means including a pivotal lever, and means for operating said lever during movement of the draw-bar, to gradually vary the lever age during said movement.

15. In a draft rigging for railway cars, the combination with a draw-bar and draft members of a shock-absorbing member comprising a ,spring cage mounted above the draw-bar, springs therein, levers for compressing said springs, said levers being pivoted at points below the centerline of the draft rigging and bowed on their rear sides, a draft gear, a yoke connected to the draw-bar and a front follower, said follower engaging the rear sides of said levers whereby the leverage is varied as the follower moves forwardly.

16. In a draft rigging for railway cars,

the combination with the draft gear, draft yoke, draw-bar, stop members and followers, of a supplemental shock-absorbing member mounted above the level of the top face of the draw-bar and comprising springs, seats therefor and individually actuated levers for compressing said springs, said levers being pivotall mounted, and means for actuating said levers to compress the springs upon movement of the draw-bar. JOHN F. OCONNOR.

Witnesses:

ARLINE R. ARNOLD, ELIZABETH BRITT.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. 0. 

